Abstract

“History is the narration of events through which we learn about what happened in the past.”—With these words Isidore, Bishop of Seville, described the question of what history is around the year 620. The core of any preoccupation with history is thus a historical interest (of whatever kind); the means of communication is the narrative, which can take place both orally and in writing. Isidore’s definition, which is now almost 1400 years old, has lost none of its actuality. For the study of history, this leads to the question to what extent and by what means historical knowledge is possible to obtain, and what kind of knowledge is involved.